Friends and Gods
by crazyone-oh-one
Summary: Mae Borowski is just an ordinary college kid that can't keep up anymore, and needs to come home. Will she find the familiarity she craves? Or maybe she finds more. With a new friend, and reconvening with old ones, will she be ready for what awaits?
1. Chapter 1: Returning Home

Looking at this small bus stop made her feel like she was already home. Even if she had told her parents she was coming back today, and they had agreed to pick her up.

She shrugged it off, and walked out of the bus station. From behind her, a man who was only one year older than her walked out with her, smiling a little bit in the brisk air.

"So, this is Possum Springs? Nice and cool, I like it. You ready to see your home after so long?"

She looked up at the sky. Was she ready?

She nodded. She was ready. "C'mon. I think you'll like my folks. Hopefully the guest room is cleared out."

The two began walking into the woods surrounding the town. Mae was happy for the familiarity, and her companion was happily examining the trees and enjoying the cool air.

At least, until they had to climb over a fence and ended up being picked up by Molly. They are dropped off at Mae's house, to the surprise of her parents, who had both thought Mae would be back tomorrow.

As well as being surprised that she'd brought home a friend. After introductions, and a playful warning from Mrs. Borowski, they went up to Mae's room.

"So, Vaan, what do you want to do first tomorrow?" Mae asked into the darkness as she lay on her bed.

From the floor next to her bed, she heard a chuckle from the arctic fox. "...Probably go meet your friends. Make sure they're as cool as you say. And make sure that you're doing the homework. Just because it's online doesn't mean you can slack off. Alright?"

Mae sighs quietly. "I know. And… thank you so much…"

Vaan chuckles softly. "Like I said at college. No matter what, we're siblings now. Our blood runs through each other's veins. And that means we protect each other."

Mae smiled slightly as her eyes closed, the last image in her mind being that of Vaan's green and red heterochromatic eyes looking at the ceiling with a smile evident within them.


	2. Chapter 2: Band Practice

The next morning, Mae awoke to the smell of fish, fried potatoes, and fried rice, a sure hint that her mother wasn't cooking, since she didn't know how to cook rice.  
Making her way down the stairs, she was only surprised by the fact that her dad was still there, dressed for work but happily eating a delicious fried-rice and hashed potato with fish.  
Vaan smirked a bit when he noticed her. "Told you she couldn't stay asleep if I made breakfast, Mrs. Borowski."  
Mae's mother laughs a bit, and nods, smiling. "Indeed you did, dear. Mae, honey, it's great to see you up before noon. Come eat breakfast."  
Mae smiles and walks to the table, where Vaan had sat down a plate of food for her, before he himself sat down to enjoy his own food. Mae's father thanked him for the meal and headed off to work.  
As soon as they were finished, Vaan and Mae went upstairs to do their homework for the day, which only took about an hour, and then they headed out after asking Mrs. Borowski if she knew where Gregg was.  
Mae was amazed to learn of the addition of a snack falcon, and that Gregg was working there. Vaan, though, was more preoccupied with the beautiful weather, and told Mae he'd race her down the street.  
Mae rolled her eyes a bit, though smirked and took off quickly. Ever since Vaan had taught her how to run properly, after learning about how good she was at parkour, she'd been tied for the fastest person at college, alongside him.  
Then again, most of the people there were fat, lazy, or so rich they didn't think they had to do anything, so she wasn't sure it was a really special title.  
They reached the Falcon in half a minute, barely even breathing heavy as they walked in, Vaan's laughter barely held back, while Mae teased he'd been going easy on her.  
This attracted the attention of a fox standing at the counter. His eyes lit up and he grinned as he began waving his arms wildly. "MAE'S BACK!" he shouted, jumping over the counter and running at Mae.  
He stopped right in front of her, grinning. "Dude, what's going on? Why're you back? And who's your friend?"  
Mae laughed, smirking. "Well, I decided to take online college. And I invited Vaan to come with me because he was my only friend at College. What about you, what's been going on? Are you and Angus still a thing?"  
Gregg laughed. "Yeah, and we're a band now! Are you going to come to practice?"  
Mae shrugged, looking at Vaan. "You wanna come? My other friends will probably be there."  
Vaan nods, smiling a bit. "Sure. You planning to play?"  
Mae blinks, having not thought of that. "...Dunno, might."  
"DUDE! You HAVE to play! C'mon, let's go!" Next thing they knew, the hyperactive fox was dragging them to the Party Barn. Inside was a bear, who was standing on stage, in front of a microphone.  
Gregg excitedly shouted to him, "ANGUS! Look who's back! It's Mae! And she brought a college friend!"  
The bear, obviously Angus, looked over, and a small smile appeared. "Hey Mae. Nice to see you again. Who's your friend?"  
Vaan waved a bit. "I'm Vaan, nice to meet you."  
Angus nodded. "Same. So what're you two doing in town? Don't you have school?"  
Mae smiled. "Vaan told me about online college, and the one we were at had online courses, so I decided to take them instead, and work from home."  
Angus nods in understanding. Vaan's ear twitched, and he opened the door as an Alligator walked up to it. She didn't even spare the time to be surprised by how he knew she was coming, and instead she walked past him, idly commenting, "So, who brought Gregg's cousin into town?"  
Mae began laughing immediately, while Vaan pretended to be insulted by this, though inwardly he was laughing as well. She managed to introduce Vaan through her laughter, while Vaan waved slightly.  
"Well, I'm Bea. Bea Santello. Nice to meet you. You two joining the band session today?"  
Mae nods. "Yeah. What about you Vaan?"  
Vaan then grew kind of embarrassed. "Uh… I guess. But I don't have my instrument."  
Gregg raced into another room, shouting about having plenty of things to choose from. Vaan winced when he heard a loud crash.  
"Hey Mae, you still play bass?" Gregg shouted.  
"Yeah," she called, shaking her head in amusement.  
Gregg came back carrying the bass, as well as a keyboard and a saxophone.  
Vaan perked up but then pouted. "I have to choose between my two favourite instruments…" he said.  
Mae held back her laughter and just patted his shoulder playfully. "C'mon, we'll have Gregg leave both out and you can play them alternatingly."  
Vaan nods, and picks up the saxophone. "What song are we playing?"  
Gregg grinned. "Let's play 'Die Anywhere Else'!"  
Mae deadpanned. "...We don't know that one."  
Gregg shrugged. "You'll be fine!"  
Vaan sighed quietly, but decided to make sure the saxophone was okay to play.  
...Judging by the horrible shriek, it needed a new reed, and to be oiled.  
"...I'm going to fix this later. For now, I'll just play keyboard."


	3. Chapter 3: The arm and the Crimes

"You two were awesome! How'd you do that fancy trick with your hands?" Gregg asked as they waited for the pizza to arrive at the table. Vaan rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Practice, I guess." Thankfully, Vaan was saved from more questions by the arrival of pizza.

He watched as the others ate, smiling a bit, glad they were enjoying it.

"Hey, Vaan, why aren't you eating?" Angus asked him, eyebrow raised.

Vaan mentally winced. "I can't eat it. I'm allergic to eggs."

"What? Wow, that must suck," Bea replied casually, which Vaan hoped to mean she was glad he'd told them.

"So you can't eat eggs at all? What do you do for birthdays then!?" Gregg asked, sounding horrified. Mae face-palms and tells him, "He can eat cake, it just has to be prepared without any eggs. Vaan's a master at baking and cooking, and has never had to touch an egg in his life."

"Well, besides the time I figured out I was allergic. That was awful…"

"What happened?" Mae asked, frowning. Vaan had never shared this with her.

Vaan bit his lip. "Well… I was about… seven or so. It was a classmate's birthday, and at school she was handing out brownies to the class.

"I took a bite and started feeling sick, but I didn't want to be rude so I ate the rest. I kinda remember being unable to breathe, and my face, neck, and hands puffing up… Then I woke up in the hospital, attached to a bunch of machines. My mom was arguing with the doctor, and my classmate's mother was behind her, like she was being protected.

"I don't remember much more, besides my Mom threatening the doctor with ungodly harm. Next time I woke up I was at home."

Mae's jaw had dropped, and Bea's left eyebrow had risen, while Angus had a sympathetic look on his face, and Gregg was blinking rapidly.

"A-anyway… what do you guys do for a living? I have a job online, helping people out with their personal problems."

"Oh, I work at the Video Outpost 'Too'," Angus said, catching Vaan's desire to change the subject. "Gregg works at the Snack Falcon, and Bea works at the Ol' Pickaxe."

"Wait, isn't that your dad's place?" Mae asked Bea, head canted to the left slightly.

"Yeah, started working when I was old enough. Even got a car so I could do house calls."

"Vaan had a car too, but it was a rental so he had to leave it behind. He even helped me get my license."

"Cool! So we all have licenses! And guess what else!" Gregg shouted excitedly.

Mae motioned him to continue. "Well? We're only getting older."

"Big party day after tomorrow! And we're all invited!" Gregg's grin was big enough that Vaan thought he might look crazy to some people.

"Wait, even Vaan and me? How?" Mae asked.

"Dunno!"

By this point, Vaan was paying for the pizza, and they were all starting to leave. They walked past the alleyway, and Vaan froze solid, which caused Bea to bump into him.

"What's wrong, Vaan? See a ghost?" Mae teased him when she walked up to him. Then, she looked down as her foot nudged something. Immediately, she hissed and backed away, pulling Vaan, who just kept staring in horror.

Mae told the others to go get Molly, and began trying to snap Vaan out of his trance. She wasn't succeeding, but she kept trying. Eventually, Molly arrived, and before Mae knew it, she and Vaan were back at her house, and she was explaining what had happened. She only wanted to get Vaan out of there, she knew he had the smell stuck in his nose, the sight stuck in his eyes, and she couldn't help him down here.

As soon as she spotted an escape, she took it, and dragged Vaan upstairs. The guest room still wasn't cleared out enough for him, so he was sat on the floor as Mae took out a lighter and a small vine. Silently apologizing to him, she lit the vine and made it smoke, before holding it beneath his nose. As his pupils dilated, and his muscles relaxed, she let out a relieved sigh, and made him lie down before climbing into her own bed.

The entire next day was a fiasco of fixing some… not good computer problems, then telling Vaan what had happened yesterday once he woke up around noon with a migraine. Mae apologized about fifty times before he finally just told her to go find Gregg and tell him instead.

Of course, he was joking, but he also wanted to be able to work on his homework for a while.

Mae went to visit Gregg, who, honestly, didn't know what she meant.

"Gregg, how do you not know about that stuff? It's literally told to us in High School Health class! You even volunteered to show us what happens and how to recognize it being used on someone!"

Gregg thought for a minute. "Ummm… You mean that silvervine stuff?"

"Yes! I forgot the name, sorry."

"So you went and drugged him?"

Mae looked down. "Yeah."

"Wow! That is hardcore! Maybe you should tell Angus about that."

"Why?"

"He complains I get too hyper sometimes."

Mae sweatdrops. "I kinda understand that."

Gregg shrugs, then grins. "Wanna go do some crimes?"

Mae grins back. "Yeah! Let's go!"


	4. Chapter 4: Nightmare Eyes

"So where do you think Casey went?" Mae asked Gregg, who shrugged. "I dunno, dude, probably just ran off. He does that."

Mae shrugged as she tossed another Pierogi into Gregg's maw. "Alright then, I guess. So what're we going to do with that thing?"

Gregg shrugs. "Dunno, but I'm gonna head home and get some rest. Big party tomorrow."

Mae nods. "I'm going to see if Vaan's going to come. Maybe convince him it'll be fun. He's never been to a party in his life, y'know."

"What!? Never!? Then he HAS to go! I know, we'll kidnap him away and drag him to the party!"

Mae laughed, nodding. "Welp, I'd better go talk to him. See ya later."

Gregg waved as Mae walked home, and when she got there, she immediately went up and began talking to Vaan.

"How did I let you convince me of this?" Vaan grumbled as he watched Mae stare into the mirror.

"I dunno, you just did."

"Great."

Mae sighs to herself. "I have a nightmare face…"

"No you don't, Mae, c'mon. You look great."

"I have such big dumb eyes… My nightmare eyes."

Vaan frowns, and goes to speak again.

"Nightmare Eyes would be a great name for a horror movie. You'll see the Nightmare Eyes outside your window, And you'll know."

"Mae?"

"Sorry, got kinda into it there. I just hope Cole isn't there… It'll be a mess…"

"Who's Cole?"

"Old boyfriend. We beat up a street gang. With chains. And garbage cans."

Vaan blinked a few times. "...Why am I not surprised?"

Mae shrugged as the two of them walked out of the house and got into Bea's car.

It was a short ride to the party. And immediately Vaan told Mae, very specifically, not to have any alcohol.

He should have thrown it into the fire right then. First Mae had decided to begin teasing Angus and Gregg about their relationship. Now Mae was standing on a tree stump by the fire.

"I have Nightmare Eyes! And the lazt thing you'll see iz my eyes outside the window! Then I'll ztab you with my knife! Stab Stab Staaaaaaabbb!"

"Mae, time to calm down now…" Vaan says, trying to get her to step off the stump.

"Boom! Dead! And when the police get there you'll be all like: S!"

Vaan cursed softly and tried to pull Mae off the stump, but failed again.

"And those stupid college kids! All just shapes! None of them are real! Only Vaan wasn't a bunch of stupid shapes! So I came back home, and no more shapes! But now the nightmare eyes come back! I HAVE NIGHTMARE EYES! AND I'LL KILL YA IF YA LET ME!" she exclaims, her eyes wide and insane as she breaks into hysterical laughter.

"Mae, come on, please," Vaan says, grabbing her shoulders, and pulling her off the stump.

"And y'know what else?! I hear the Nightmares speaking! They tell me it's over! THEY TOLD ME TO RUN!" she yelled, her laughter turning into sobs as Vaan lead her away, motioning to Bea quickly.

Thankfully, he'd told Mae not to eat, so she wasn't throwing up, but it was obvious Bea was less than thrilled to see Mae like this.

Then again, he himself was very upset as well. Oh well. Nothing to do now.

Once Mae was in bed, Vaan decided to take a long night hike through the woods, humming to himself. The night air was cool and crisp, which felt like his old home to him, something that made him feel a bit homesick. Even if he had no one there to greet him, he wished he could call.

He stopped in his tracks suddenly, and hid behind a nearby tree, watching the shadows like a hawk. A cloaked person was stalking someone else, and they moved like a wild animal. Vaan gulped quietly, and his eyes widened as the cloaked figure pulled out a gun and took aim.

Vaan, the idiot he was, immediately picked up an acorn, and climbed into a tree, throwing it hard enough that when it hit the gun, it made the gun move just a fraction of an inch.

This, amazingly, made it miss the target, but Vaan couldn't stick around to find out what else happened, and ran back to Mae's house as fast as he could. He, thankfully, wasn't spotted, and he raced up to the guest room, which was finally cleared out. He immediately locked the door and window, and got on his laptop, contacting Gregg, Bea, and Angus, and typing out what had happened.

He only got an answer from Bea, who told him that they'd all meet up in the morning for band practice and then talk about what was going on. He thanked her, and curled up in the corner of his bed in a blanket.

He was scared he'd be the next one facing down a gun.


	5. Chapter 5: No one is alone

It was a very tired Vaan that walked into the Party Barn, and a very hung-over Mae as well.

Vaan was telling her about what had happened last night, while she told him about her odd nightmare.

They both agreed that something was going on, but decided not to do anything about it until it became more relevant.

They temporarily forgot about it as the practice began, a song called "Weird Autumn".

But once it was over, Bea looked to Vaan, "Okay, now start talking. You saw some weird creep in the woods?"

Vaan nods, and describes the events, though hesitates on the description of the almost-victim, not having seen them clearly enough.

Bea frowns. "Weird… We're too small a town to get psychopaths without knowing something was wrong… You think it had to do with Casey's disappearance?" she turned to Gregg and Angus by this point, meeting their gazes calmly.

Gregg rubbed his arm. "If it is, then why Casey? He was a good guy…"

"Not all stripes are black or white, bug. Maybe he upset someone."

Mae hummed softly. "Well, no matter what, we can't exactly tell anyone… Who'd believe us?"

"Good point," Angus replied, frowning.

Vaan bit his lip. "Well, I, for one, am making the decision we should all stick together, not go anywhere alone…"

They all agreed. And that night we all agreed to take Bea home first, because she was the only one who lived without someone nearby, then Gregg and Angus went home, and Mae and I last. It was a simple plan, and it would hopefully work out well.

But things rarely ever go right for anyone.

 ** _Sorry for the short chapter this time, but the next one is extra long to make up for it. And no, this will not be over once we reach end-game. And yes, I ship MaeBea, as well as Gregg and Angus, so gay couples all the way~_**

 ** _Finally, Mae is smarter than in canon, soooo... Don't hate on her._**


	6. Chapter 6: Surprises and Confessions

Mae tossed and turned all night, and Vaan was unable to stay asleep for more a few minutes. Both were having nightmares, Mae's of mysterious musicians, and Vaan's of faceless figures and pools of blood.  
The next day both of them silently agreed to never, ever speak of these happenings unless they absolutely had to be spoken of.  
Instead, they decided to take a day just to catch up on homework, and of course made sure to tell the others about their plans. The day was completely whiled away, and even most of the night as they worked on the projects that wouldn't be due for a long while yet. They soon realized they had been up until midnight, and as such, they got to sleep as quick as possible.  
Though once again Nightmares plagued them.  
Thankfully, the next day, the two of them felt good enough to go into town and visit the others. Vaan decided to visit Gregg, while Mae decided to visit Bea.  
Bea and Mae went to fix a furnace, but Gregg managed to convince Vaan to go commit a 'crime' with him.  
Gregg and Vaan met up with a man named Steve, who seemed to really dislike Gregg, though pretended to like Vaan until the arctic fox took out his contacts to rub his eyes, showing his heterochromia. The two blue lenses were meant to hide the genetic oddity, but itched badly.  
Of course, Steve had noticed, and stole his contacts to probably pawn them off later, and when Vaan figured out he ended up punching a hole in the wall. Steve ran while he could, and Gregg cheered him. Thankfully Vaan put on sunglasses to avoid people seeing his eyes, having always been sensitive about them, knowing people didn't like these types of differences.  
They met back up with Bea and Mae after taking a massive mechanical head back to Gregg's apartment. The four of them chatted a bit about what they'd been up to.  
Mae asked him why he was wearing the sunglasses, and he growled out something incomprehensible about Steve Scriggins.  
"Ugh, what did he do?"  
"Stole my lenses.."  
Mae froze for a full minute as Bea asked what that was supposed to mean. Then, Mae growled angrily. "I'll beat him to hell," she mutters, though calms herself when Bea and Gregg ask, yet again, what they meant.  
"Um… Well, Vaan wears contact lenses."  
"Does he need them to read or anything?"  
"No…"  
"Does he have eyesight problems?" Bea asked once again, looking Vaan in the eyes.  
Vaan stepped back away from her slightly, not liking the intensity of the gaze.  
Then, Gregg stole his sunglasses, and Vaan shut his eyes immediately.  
"GUYS! Stop! He doesn't like people seeing his eyes without the stupid lenses in!" Mae shouted angrily. Gregg blinked a bit in surprise, and looked at her in shock and embarrassment.  
Bea, though, shrugged it off. "Gregg stole the glasses. I wasn't going to look if he didn't want me to. But I'd like to know at least. It'd be cool if he had like, heterochromia or something. Maybe that could be his Harfest costume."  
Vaan almost opened his eyes in shock at Bea's admission, and he mumbled something incoherently.  
"Guys, if Vaan decides to tell you, then he will. But give him back the glasses. Bad enough his only Contacts got stolen…"  
"A-actually, could we just… go and get something to eat? I don't care what…" Vaan whispered, pulling on a hood over his head and a billed hat to help hide his eyes, which almost glowed despite the darkness.  
"Sure. How about we go back to my house? Mom and Dad made Tacos."  
Vaan nods a bit, and smiles, despite it being unseen.  
The four of them headed to the Borowski residence to eat. Both Candy and Stan were surprised to see Vaan hiding his face, and Bea commented on Steve's theft when they asked Vaan if something was wrong.  
"Oh that boy goes too far! We should just tell Molly what he's done and be rid of him!"  
"Candy, we can't get him unless we find the contacts with his prints on them."  
"I-it's okay, Mr. and Mrs. Borowski, I'll just get new ones tomorrow morning. I'll just go to the mall and pick them up."  
"Dear, we can't let theft like this stand. That boy has been too much trouble for far too long. And with Harfest tomorrow, he might plant the evidence on someone else."  
Vaan winces imperceptibly.  
"But you four should not bother with that today. Okay, dears? Go on upstairs and have fun."  
The other three almost had to drag Vaan to keep him from arguing further.  
"So, Vaan, why the suggestion for all of us to eat together?"  
"Well, besides the fact that I knew you were hungry… I guess you guys kinda deserve to know… just, please don't freak out…"  
"I promise I won't freak out," Bea replies, and Gregg agrees. Vaan nods, and takes down his hood and hat, and reluctantly opened his eyes, revealing the red and green irises. Gregg's jaw dropped, and Bea blinks in surprise.  
"That is so cool dude!" Gregg exclaimed, smacking him on the back. Vaan winced slightly, but also felt relieved.  
"Told you they wouldn't care, bro~" Mae sing-songed, smirking.  
Bea's head jerked around to look at Mae in shock. "Bro?"  
"Mae! Why'd you do that!"  
"I wanted to prove a point. Besides, we can't keep this a secret now they know about your fancy eyes."  
"I will bury you alive."  
"You tried once. Failed. Badly."  
Vaan grumbles. "Alright, fine…"  
"Dudes, just tell us already!"  
"Fine! Mae and I decided to become blood siblings. It happened after she had a mini panic attack and I was the only person who could help her. From there we were friends, then best friends after more incidents, and now siblings."  
"Blood… Siblings?" Bea asked, frowning, her cigarette almost falling out of her mouth.  
"Yeah! Basically, you cut yourself on the wrist a little, and then the other person does, then you hold the cuts together for a bit as the blood transfers between the two. Then you both tie this little ribbon around your wrists until the blood soaks it, or stops, whichever comes first. If the blood soaks the ribbon all the way, you succeeded in becoming siblings. If the blood stops first, then you aren't compatible as siblings," Mae explains.  
"That. Is. So. COOL!" Gregg exclaims, grinning. "Do you have the scars still?"  
Vaan rolled his eyes. "They don't leave. It's a physical representation of the bond."  
"Mind if we ask to see them?" Bea asked, a slight smile present.  
Mae nods. "Sure, you can see 'em." She hold out her left wrist, while Vaan holds out his right wrist. Two perfectly copied marks existed, one for each of them.  
"Didn't that, like, hurt you? Or, y'know, make you sick?" Bea asked.  
"Nah, the only pain was from the two open wounds touching."  
Vaan nodded in agreement. "Aside from that, though, we also vowed neither of us would get hurt while the other is around. It's worked so far."  
Mae nodded. "That's partially why he came back to Possum Springs with me. Oh, by the way Bea, did you know they have online college?"  
Bea blinked a bit. "Really? Does it cost the same as normal college?"  
Vaan interjected then, commenting, "No, it's cheaper. Less need for books and uniforms. Also, Mae is going to get a job after she gets finished with this semester of school."  
Mae pouted. "That was going to be a surprise!"  
"So was our sibling-hood. And we were supposed to tell your parents first. So too bad."  
Both of their friends were looking between the two in equal parts shock and awe. Of course, it made sense, since bombshells were dropping left and right. Vaan noticed the looks, and immediately began laughing his tail off, while Mae snickered, and asked the two if they needed a ride home.  
Bea and Gregg agreed, knowing the dangers of being out alone.


	7. Chapter 7: Harfest and Ghosts

It was Harfest. And Mae had guilt-tripped Vaan into dressing up. Of course, he had mostly agreed because Bea was going insane over a play, and Gregg had agreed as well as Mae.

And to be honest, he wanted to make sure that nothing bad happened.

Sadly, he failed, because after the play, Mae had run off into the woods, right past him. She had even climbed a fence, using only her feet since her hands were hidden, and then run off faster than ever.

He followed the best her could, but his costume was so irritatingly itchy he could hardly run without his fur being pulled out. He finally caught up with her at the same time as Molly, and then they both were taken back into town.

Of course, Mae dragged me to Gregg, Angus, Bea, and Germ before I could do anything else.

"Mae, what is going on!?" he exclaimed as she pushed him onto the couch in between Gregg and Bea.

"Guys, I just saw a person get kidnapped!" she said quickly. To the others, it may sound like excitement, but Vaan saw the horror in her eyes, and knew she needed to calm down right now. If she didn't do so right now, then she might begin to relapse.

Nobody wanted that to happen. They couldn't have it happen.

He jolted back into the conversation as he heard Bea tell Mae she'd take her to the library.

After they left, Gregg and Angus offered to take Vaan back to Mae's house, but he told them he'd be fine. In truth, he needed to be alone for a minute, and he knew he was fast enough to run away if need be.

They didn't want to agree, but Vaan commented that it was unlikely for the kidnapper to strike twice in one hour. Plus, he also told them he was no stranger to fights. Mae had taught him a lot about fighting. Especially when at a disadvantage.

And he would probably be at a disadvantage against someone strong enough to kidnap someone and carry them away at speeds faster than even Mae can go.

When he got home, he said goodnight to Mae's parents, and went up to his room quietly, opening the window and sitting sideways on the sill like he enjoys doing.

He gazed at the stars for the night.

"Alright Mae, let's see if we can find this 'ghost' of yours. I'm tired, so let's make this quick."

Mae nods, and walks to the computer, beginning to type in the necessary phrases.

Several entries popped up, and she started looking at them. The graveyard, park, and historical society were the first places they agreed upon.

Then she saw a fourth article, and her intrigue grew. "Another ghost clipping. This one's… by the tracks."

Bea raised an eyebrow. "Maybe your new brother will take you there."

Mae nodded. "Alright. So, tomorrow we'll head to the graveyard?"

Bea nods, already walking away. "C'mon, I'll drive you home," she says, prompting Mae to turn off the computer and follow.


End file.
